Rhine Falls (or Rheinfall)

Rhine Falls (also Rheinfall in German; pronounced "RHAYN-fall"; I've also seen it spelled Rhein Falls) has been proclaimed to be Europe's largest waterfall. I'm not sure how true that claim is, especially if you count the waterfalls in

It's said to have an average flow of about 700 cubic meters per second as the Rhine River (Rhein River?) rushes over a sloping riverbed spanning 150m while dropping 23m in vertical height. There are islands and rocks splitting up the waterfall into segments, and the island in the middle of the falls has a boat dock and stairs up to a tight lookout with railings to support visitation via boat tour. Julie and I also noticed a separate rock or island with a natural arch nearby the main middle island.

As for boating across the Rhine River (you have to pay separately for this one), there are four options. I don't remember exactly what each option did, but I do know that we picked the one that covered going across the river plus making a stop at that middle island. Other options I remembered included some audio tour that covered a good deal of the river (but didn't stop in the middle) plus another was strictly just going across the Rhine only.

We were able to view the waterfall from a variety of positions and angles. We'll describe them as four distinct sections:

• Schloss Laufen
• Middle Island
• Schlossli Worth or Schlosschen Worth
• Upper Path

Schloss Laufen
Schloss Laufen is the castle perched above the right side (looking upstream at it) of Rhine Falls. This castle provides the closest and most intimate views of the waterfall as there are overlooks providing views of the mass of turbulence before you, there's a platform perched right above the turbulence at the base of the falls, and there's even a viewpoint that seems to bring you so close to the waterfall that you could touch it (though you can't and you probably shouldn't even if you could).

The path begins from the top and descends a series of steps passing by the various overlooks mentioned above. And when all is said and done, there's even a lift bringing you back up to the top as well as a boat dock to connect with the other side of the Rhine River as well as the island in the middle of the falls.

Now for all of the infrastructure and maintenance involved, they do charge an admission fee to get past the turnstile at Schloss Laufen. I believe we were charged some 5 Swiss Francs per person, and that was much more than the quoted price in our LP guide, which indicates that prices usually adjust upwards even as quick as in a couple of years.

Still, Julie and I thought it was worth the price of admission. Besides, we thought the natural arch was best seen from this side.

Middle Island
The Middle Island is what I'm calling that island that sits right in the middle of Rhine Falls. There's a boat dock there as well as a stairway that goes right to the top of the rock where there's some railings and a Swiss flag perched up there. And in order to visit it, you're gonna have to take a boat.

I recalled that there were four options for taking the boat. I don't remember exactly which option did what, but I do know that we took the one that went across the river as well as stopped at the Middle Island. Other options included an all-inclusive longer boat ride within the Rhine as well as a stop at the Middle Island, an "audio tour" cruise on the Rhine without the stop in the Middle Island, and a simple shuttle to the other bank of the river.

The boat ride costs extra, and how much depends on which option you take. I think Julie and I paid 10 Swiss Francs per person.

Once the boat drops you off at the dock on the Middle Island, you just go up to the top and savor the views. Unfortunately, it can get a bit crowded up there, especially if they stuff multiple tour groups (even one boatload from a tour group will crowd the top). On our trip, it had gotten so bad that there was even a queue that formed from the top almost to the bottom of the stairs. Crazy!

Inconveniences aside, the view from up here does yield a nearly 360 degree panorama of the rushing Rhine Falls all around you. There aren't many waterfalls where you can even say you're surrounded completely by it.

Schlossli Worth or Schlosschen Worth
This is the castle on the other side of the Rhine River. It's a bit more distant to the falls than the Schloss Laufen, but at least the views on this side of the river are free. There's a cafe and restaurant at this "castle," but there's another similar cafe closer to the large plunge pool for a more direct view of the falls.

A well-established walk between this castle and the viewpoints just upstream of the falls opposite Schloss Laufen yield plenty of opportunities to photograph the falls from just about any angle imaginable. There's even a little exhibit where a cylinder of water resists a propeller attached to a crank that you turn. The point is that you can measure how much energy you generate since the crank also lights up some bulbs indicating how much power you've generated up to 80W. And while this is going on, you can see a little vortex in the cylinder of water if you turn the crank fast enough.

Due to the stagnation of the plunge pool on this side of the Rhine, it can get a little smelly. That's an indication that the water is probably polluted. At least it ought to keep any sane person from wanting to go for a swim where there's still some hidden undertows and whirlpools making swimming unsafe anyways.

Upper Path
The flat walk around the Schlossli Worth area isn't the end of your photo ops, however. There are a couple of footpaths ascending towards more overlooks as well as the road and town of Neuhausen up above. The footpath that ascends from near the cafe will bring you to a nice viewpoint where you can see the entire Rhine Falls at an angle along with a bridge upstream from it and the Schloss Laufen perched above it all. The footpath that ascends from right next to the falls will take you right up to the town of Neuhausen.

Continue along the river's banks through Neuhausen, and you can cross a bridge that's shared with a railway. That will bring you across the river and ultimately to the Schloss Laufen. So you can make this walk if you don't feel like spending money for the boat ride to shuttle across.

From Schaffhausen, you can choose to walk the 3km or so towards Neuhausen (I don't know where LP got the idea it was only a 15-minute walk), or you can take one of a handful of buses towards the Rhine Falls. The buses were covered by our Swiss Rail Pass.

Julie and I made the mistake of taking an hourly bus that went straight to Schloss Laufen from the Schaffhausen Station (I think it was bus #634). That's because it took 26 minutes to get there as it pretty much stopped at every conceivable stop en route.

Other buses between Neuhausen (near the top of the falls) and Schaffhausen Station (namely buses #1 and #6) take you to a handful of stops in Neuhausen in less than 15 minutes. I'm not sure if they go all the way to the car park at Schlossli Worth or not (since we only took it going back from Neuhausen).

Finally, if you decide to visit Rhine Falls for a half-day and you finish your waterfalling early enough in the day, we recommend that you also check out the charming town of Stein am Rhein about a half-hour's train ride further east of Schaffhausen. We think it's one of the most charming little towns you'll ever see, and it definitely possesses a charm that we think surpasses what Luzern (Lucerne) tries to be.

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The entrance to Schloss Laufen

Julie descending stairs on the Schloss Laufen side

The Middle Island and Natural Arch Island

A big white mess as seen from Schloss Laufen

Closer look at the turbulence of Rhine Falls

A crowd gathers at the top of the Middle Island

The platform perched dangerously within the base of the Rhine Falls

The Rhine Falls as seen from the boat

One side of the falls as seen from the boat dock in the Middle Island

Looking towards Schloss Laufen from the Middle Island as the Rhine Falls shoots right across the foreground

Partial view of Rhine Falls from the top of the Middle Island

Big queue forming as people wait to ascend to the top of the Middle Island

This boat took the covers off and tried to get all the passengers sprayed by the falls

The vortex within the human-powered dynamo

Partial view from the top of the Middle Island

Looking towards Schloss Laufen and Rheinfall from the Schlossli Worth side

Profile view of the falls

One last look at the middle island before walking to Neuhausen

Another look at the charming Stein am Rhein

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Right to left sweep of the falls from Schloss Laufen

Fixated on the Rhine Falls surrounding islands in the middle of it, including a natural arch!

Close right to left sweep of the falls from the Schloss Laufen side

Fixated on the platform protruding out onto the turbulent waters near the base of the falls

Right to left sweep from directly in front of the falls on the Schloss Laufen side

View of the falls from the boat as it's moving to the other side of the river

Left to right sweep from the island in the middle of the falls

Broad right to left sweep from the top of the island in the middle of the falls; beginning from the bridge upstream of the falls and ending at Schlosschen Worth

Left to right sweep from the crowded top of the island in the middle of the falls

Fixated on the falls from the free side of the river with a boat looking like it's drifting in the turbulence

Left to right sweep of the falls from the uppermost viewing area on the free side

View of the entire falls with Schloss Laufen, rail bridge, and the Rhine River from an elevated perspective

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TRIP REPORTS

• June 15, 2010

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